Railroad-crossing.



APPLICATION FLLED JULY "5, I918.

C. C. McMANAWAY.

RAILROAD CROSSING.

Patented Dec. 10, 1918.

canoe mica wanna,

' r one CLARENCE CfMclVIANAWAY, OF COVVDEN, ILLINOIS.

RAILROAD-CROSSING.

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CLARENCE (J; MCMAN- away, a citizen or" the UnitedStates, residing at Cowden, in the county of Shelby and State ofIllinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railroad-Urossings, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to railways, and more especially to crossings;and the object of the same is to produce a device of'this classwhichwhen set for either track will result in practically continuous rails soas to eliminate the noise and jar as far as possible.

Another object is to provide for tempered elements at the point ofcrossing so as to reduce wear as far as possible. 7

Yet another object is to make provision for the simultaneous changeinthe direction of the several elements to accommodate a trainapproaching on either track.

Details are set forth in the following specification and claims, andattention is invited to the drawings wherein Figure 1 is a diagrammaticplan view of this crossing complete,

Fig. 2 is an enlarged planview of one of u the points of crossing andits details.

Fig. 3 is a transverse section through the center of Fig. 2.

The numerals 1 and 2 designate the rails of one track, interruptedbetween their ends by short track sections 3, and the numerals land 5designate the rails of the other track interrupted by similartracksections 6, the said tracks in the present instance being showndiagrammatically in Fig. 1 as crossing each other at right angles andhereinafter described on this basis. Crossing elements are employed atthe four points of intersection as seen in this view, but as they areduplicates we need consider but one as more fully illustrated in Figs.2'and 3. The

a contiguous ends of the rails '1 and 3' and the rails 4 and 6 areslightly spaced and the respective ends are connected by angle ironswhereof each has arms 7 and 8. standing at right angles to each other,these arms being connected by an interposed quadrant 9, and the severalquadrants collectively making up a complete circle. The arms are bypreference bolted as at 10 to the webs of the rails or rail sections andwhere the arms lap the short sections 3 and 6 they prefer- Specificationof Letters Patent. Patented Dem 1Q 1918. Application filed July 15,1918.

Serial No. 244,976.

an abut as indicated at 11 in Fig. 1; The rails and rail sections arelaid on ties as usual and as not necessary to illustrateand describe.

Within each circle or ring madeup of the several quadrants 9 and thebutt ends of the confronting rails is located a circular plug 15preferably of steel or otherwise rendered extremely hard, the plug beingcylindrical in contour and provided with an annular groove 16 into whichthe quadrant fits. The bottom of the plug at its axis preferably. has aconical socket rotatably mounted on a conev 17 at the center of a plate18 which itself is suitably supported as indicated in Fig. 3, and thusthe plug is mounted for rotation and supported in its rotation both bythe'quadrants and the cone 17, while .it is also. supported by the plate18 with sufficient strength'to bear the load. to be placed upon it. Thetop of the plug is cut ofi flat as seen in Fig.3, excepting for twotransverse grooves or channels 20mm. 21, formed at opposite sides of aninterposed portion of said upper face which will constitute the ball 22of a rail, its size and shape corresponding with the ball of the railwith which it alines. While both grooves 20 and 21 are not absolutelynecessary in all cases, I prefer in order that the 3 plugs shall beinterchangeable to form them with both grooves so that the flange of thewheel may travel across the plug at either side of its ball 22. Meansmay now be provided for turning all plugs a quarter revolutionsimultaneously. For this purpose I pivot links 23 to the several'plugsat the point indicated at 24, and provide suitable mechanism formanipulating the links in unison. It is obvious that if the pivotalpoint 24 in Fig. 2 be moved to the dotted position 25, the plug 15 willbe given a quarter rotation and the ball 22 will then stand directly inalinement with the rails 1 and 3, and therefore the operative mechanismforming no part of the present invenmechanism must'be employed forretracting and projecting the several bolts in unison. If thelink-actuating mechanism is such as to lock the several links againstmovement after they have been shifted to turn the plug, the bolt 26 maynot be absolutely necessary, but in order to be perfectly sure that theball 22 of the plug is in strict alinement with the balls of. either thetwo rails 4L and ,6 or the two rails 1 and 3, I prefer to employ thelocking mechanism.

When now a train approaches moving north or south in the diagramillustrated in Fig. 1, its Wheels pass along the ralls i and 5, acrossthe balls 22, alongthe rail sections 6, across the-other balls 22 andonward; and

"because of the close fit of the parts there is 'a minimum of noise andof'jar'.

It is quite within the spirit of my invention that the plugs shall betempered or otherwise rendered'extremely hardso that they will for along time resist the strain thrown upon them as trains cross over them.When a train approaches from east or west, the

plugs will of course have to be given a quarter' revolution so thatftheballs 22 will stand in the opposite position from that shown in Fig. 1.If the twovtracks do not cross each other at rightangles, then the throwofthe links 23 by the actuating mechanism mustj' be regulatedaccordingly, and the 'sockets27 and; 28 in the balls will be regulated"accordingly, I prefer that the bolt '26 shall move through a suitableguide opening 29 in one of the quadrants 9 so that its Copies of thispatent may 'be'obtained for tip shall be accurately directed into thesocket which is opposite thereto.

The foregoing description and the drawings have reference to what may beconsidered the preferred, or approved form of my invention. It is to beunderstood that I may make such changes in construction and arrangementand combination of parts, materials, dimensions, et cetera, as may proveexpedient and fall within the scope face a socket, a supporting plateunderlying said plugand having at its center a conical bearing engagingsaid socket, a ball extending diametrically across the upper face of theplug, and means'for turning the plug to aline said ball with either lineof rails.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in'the presence of twowitnesses. v

CLARENCE C, lVIoMANAWAY. Witnesses:

CH. Moons, JAMES BnAnnon'r.

five cents each, by addressing the Gommissioner'of Patents. 'Washington,D. 0.

